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Bob Summerhayes thinks he could lose up to £2,000 due to the Olympic restrictions

Fishermen and charter skippers in Dorset are worried the 2012 Olympic sailing races will seriously damage their livelihoods.

There will be an exclusion zone during the Olympic Games covering almost all of Weymouth Bay.

It means fishermen will be banned from their normal fishing grounds for 16 days during what they say is the most lucrative time of the year.

The Olympic organisers said it was too early to discuss possible compensation.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) said it was listening to concerns raised by the fishermen and other commercial vessels and were working on "number of solutions".

Charter skippers had asked for a designated viewing area close to the racing but that was turned down.

Nineteen of the dozens of fishing and leisure boats based in Weymouth and Portland have been signed up to act as marshals during the event, giving them three weeks guaranteed work, LOCOG added.

There will also be restrictions in place for more than two months before the Olympic sailing events begin.

Bob Summerhayes, one of eight fishermen working out of Weymouth, estimates he will lose up to £2,000.